Baby fat might indicate obese future

HEATHER NOLAN

Published 12:00 am, Tuesday, June 22, 2010

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Zander Brian, 1, takes a break from grocery shopping with his mother, Abby Brian, not pictured, at HEB on Tuesday. "I've always watched closely what he eats," Brian said. With more attention paid to childhood obesity and a new UTMB study that shows the disease can be detected in children as young as 6 months, Brian's concern for her child's health is welcome by most doctors. Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise less

Zander Brian, 1, takes a break from grocery shopping with his mother, Abby Brian, not pictured, at HEB on Tuesday. "I've always watched closely what he eats," Brian said. With more attention paid to childhood ... more

Baby fat might indicate obese future

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Loading her shopping cart Tuesday with small jars of pureed bananas at H-E-B, Abby Brian pointed to her son's long legs, hanging over the edge of the cart.

"He's bigger than other kids his age," Brian said of Zander, who turns 1 Friday. "But (the doctors) have always said he's OK."

Brian has always focused on nutrition, and said she's relied on recommendations from her pediatrician to make sure Zander, who is 27 pounds and 32 inches, eats a proper diet.

With more attention paid to childhood obesity and a new Texas study that shows the disease can be detected in children as young as 6 months, Brian's concern for her child's health is welcome by most doctors.

A recent University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston analysis found in retrospect that 16 percent of 6-month-olds treated at the UTMB pediatric clinic between April 2005 through December 2007 were obese - at or beyond the 95th percentile.

The percentile shows the relative position of the child's body mass index number among children of the same sex and age. Children with a body mass index at or greater than the 95th percentile are considered obese.

Those children, researchers found, had a greater chance of being overweight and obese at 2 than children who were in a normal weight range at 6 months.